Great article on NPR (it’s from last month, I’m a little late to the party) that I wanted to share. Loved the two quotes below, in particular!
“Everyone knows that there are saintly meat-eaters and cruel vegetarians. Also, almost all current vegetarians (in Western countries at least) spent much or most of our lives eating meat. So no, vegetarians don’t think we’re better than everyone else.”
“However, we do think that people who care about animals shouldn’t be paying other people to slice animals’ throats open so that we can eat their corpses. On this issue specifically, vegetarians do think we’re more consistent than meat-eaters, most of whom claim to care about animals, and yet routinely pay others to abuse and kill them for a product (meat) that isn’t necessary. But of course, diet is just one from among many ethical issues.” – Bruce Friedrich, Farm Sanctuary
And from the fabulous Colleen Patrick-Goudreau:
“I think most people agree that not committing violence against another – human or nonhuman – is an ethically superior position to hurting someone. For me, I reflect this ethic by being vegan. Contrary to what some people think, being vegan is not an end in itself; it’s the means to an end. It’s the means through which we can – in our daily lives – reflect our value of not causing harm.”
“The truth is I feel humbled being vegan rather than superior to those who aren’t. I have no cause to be self-righteous. There was a time when I ate animals and made excuses, and I feel grateful to be armed with knowledge and awareness and to be able to act on my values of compassion and kindness. Rather than feel morally superior to people who eat animals, I feel great sorrow for the animals who suffer and for the humans who inflict that suffering. If we keep this big picture in mind, we can create the compassionate world we all envision.” – Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, Author
Words to think about, my friends, and to pass on!
I hope you all have a great weekend 🙂